The Uzbekistan Family Tour combines three ancient cities – Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara – with interactive museums, amusement parks, crafts classes, and performances that are interesting for children. Enjoy a ceramics class and a puppet performance in Bukhara, before returning back to Tashkent and visiting Chimgan mountains- one of the picturesque surroundings of Uzbekistan. Combining visits to historical places with an active cultural program, this is the best tour for keeping busy while also fully immersing yourself and your family in the life of Uzbekistan.
Duration: 12 days / 11 nights
Itinerary: Urgench – Khiva – Bukhara – Gijduvan – Nurata – Aydarkul lake – Samarkand- Tashkent – Chimgan -Tashkent
TOUR PROGRAM:
Day 1. Moscow – Urgench – Khiva
Evening arrival in Urgench at 19.10, flight HY616.
Transfer to Khiva (30km), accommodation at the hotel.
Day 2. Khiva
Breakfast. Khiva city tour. Khiva – unique city, claiming for the title of the seventh wonder of the world. Thanks to its unique atmosphere of “the era of the beginning of times”. Most part of the city is the open- air museum, and the core of this museum is Ichan-Kala fortress. All architectural masterpieces of the city are concentrated within the fortress. In 1990 the city was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Muhammad Amin-khan Madrasa (19c.) – the biggest medieval madrasa of Khiva; Kalta Minor (19c.), Juma Mosque and Minaret (19-20cc.) – the roof of the Mosque is held by 212 different columns with unique carving. Thanks to its unusual construction, it is the coolest place in Kviva, with excellent acoustics.
Lunch at the national house “Zarafshan”, situated in a heart of Ichan-Kala.
Muhammad Rahim-khan Madrasa (19c.) – one of the biggest in Khiva. It was built by the order of Khan Mohammed Rakhim II, also known as a poet Feruzshah. Kunya-Ark citadel (19c.). Pakhalavan Mahmud Mausoleum (18-19cc.), Minaret and Mosque Islam Khodja (beginning of the 20th c.)
Dinner at the local art-restaurant “Allakuli-Khan”, accompanied by the folk show – traditional dances of the region of Khorazm.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 3. Khiva – Bukhara
Breakfast.
Drive to Bukhara via Kyzyl-Kum desert. Stop en-route to enjoy views of the desert and Amudarya River.
Arrive in Bukhara late in the afternoon, check in to the hotel.
First visit of Bukhara and a walk through the narrow streets of the city.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 4. Bukhara
Breakfast.
Bukhara is a city museum in the middle of the sands with two thousand years of history became famous for its former carpet market. The appearance of the city is surrounded by many legends and tales. One of the legends says that the son of Iranian king Siyavush arrived in Bukhara married the daughter of the king Afrasiab and built there the fortress — Ark. Scythian tribes, the Persian king Darius the conqueror Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane — all they were there. World famous scientists, artist, poets and writers have lived here in different epochs. The Italian traveler Marco Polo, who visited the city in the fourteenth century, called it a city of great splendor. The famous commercial artery — the Great Silk Road, a road from China to Europe passed through Bukhara and Samarkand in those years.
All day sightseeing tour around Bukhara:
Fortress Ark, located on the Registan of Bukhara, Central Square of the old town. It is estimated that this citadel was built in the II century, rebuilt several times, and received its current and final appearance at the sixteenth century, when Bukhara became the capital of the state of Sheibanids the first Uzbek dynasty. The citadel underwent bombings of the revolutionary army in 1920, only a quarter of the building remained untouched – emir’s mosque, reception court, emir’s chambers and prime-minister’s court.
The monuments in the Samanid’s park. : 12th century Mazar Chashma – Ayub and the pearl of Central Asian architecture: the Samanids mausoleum constructed in 908, the oldest shrine of the Islamic world, first building in baked bricks, classified by UNESCO among the 10 most important monuments of humanity. Pretty Bolo Hauz mosque (18c.), with a terrace 20 wooden columns.
Lunch at “Doston House”. National House “Doston House” welcomes guests and offers to taste Uzbek dishes, cooked according to Uzbek traditions. Almost every main course is open-fire cooked. In the spring and summer guests can enjoy food in the open-air terrace at the restaurant.
Hosts of the restaurant invite to take part at the cooking of favorite Bukhara dishes: pilaf and samsa.
The Labi-Hauz square with a large pool of water, surrounded by Poi-Kalian Square and Kalyan Minaret (12c.), The Kalyan mosque (15c.), The Miri-Arab madrasa (16c.) that is still functioning. The Madrarsas Ulugbek (15c.) and Abdulazizkhan (17c.). madrasa Kukeldash the biggest in Central Asia (16c.); madrasa and khanaka Nodir Divan-Begi.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 5. Bukhara – Gijduvan – Nurata -Yurt camp (Aydarkul lake)
Breakfast.
Drive to Samarkand via Gijduvan, village is located forty-six kilometers from Bukhara. It is one of the famous pottery centers in Central Asia, where you will have pottery master class.
Gijduvan ceramics school has its deep roots. The skills have been passed from father to son from generation to generation. Today Gijduvan is home for the sixth generation of potters from Narzullayevs family which glorified Gijduvan school ceramics all over the world.
You will also be able to take part at the process of manufacture of this famous ceramics and take the result home with you as a souvenir. Drive to Nurata. Visit the Complex Chashma Spring and Namazgah Mosque. Go up to the hills to visit the remains of the Fortress of Alexander the Great. Drive to the Yurt Camp.
Arrive in Yurt Camp, accommodation in yurt. Camel riding and free time. After dinner sit around the camp fire and enjoy Kazakh akin singing folk songs. Overnight in the yurt.
Day 6. Yurt camp (Aydarkul lake) – Samarkand
Breakfast. Drive to Lake Aydar. Walking along the lakeshore. Enjoy some free time swimming, observing the birdlife of the lake Aydarkul. Lunch picnic with a beautiful view of the lake. Drive to Samarkand. Arrival to Samarkand. Accommodation at the hotel.
Samarkand is one of the oldest cities of Central Asia which is more than 2,750 years old. Uzbeks say: Samarkand is as old as the Earth. The city was conquered by the soldiers of Alexander the Great, the troops of the Arab Khalifat, the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan! But the city was rebuilt again and again…
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 7. Samarkand
Breakfast.
All day sightseeing tour around the city. At the end of the fourteenth century Samarkand became the capital of the vast empire of Timur and the object of his particular concern. Many palaces and majestic buildings were constructed there.
Samarkand city tour – the pearl of the Orient, one the most majestic cities of Uzbekistan, beloved capital of Great Tamerlane. Gur-Emir Mausoleum (14-15cc.) – Tamerlane and his family last resort. The heart of Samarkand – Registan Square (15-17cc.): Ulugbek Madrasa, Tilla-Kori Madrasa and Sher-Dor Madrasa
A true “center of paradise” for artists and dreamers: the Ulugbek observatory, one of the most beautiful ensembles of the East – Shakhi-Zinda Ensemble (12-15cc.) – so called “city of the dead”, necropolis, consisting of more than 20 unique buildings, one of the most ancient places of the city. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 8. Samarkand – Tashkent
Breakfast.
All day sightseeing tour around the city : Khodja Daniyar (St. Daniel) mausoleum — a place of pilgrimage for Hebrews, Christians and Muslim, surrounded by great number of legends.
Bibi-Khanim mosque – one the most ancient mosques in the Muslim world, the largest market of Samarkand – Siyob.
Visit to the silk paper workshop. A welcome tea upon arrival at the location, followed by a historical overview of the workshop and exploration of the production process of the paper itself. As a souvenir for yourself you can find there paper masks, marble and silk paper.
Transfer to the station to take high speed train “Afrosiab” to Tashkent
Departure to Tashkent at 17:00.
Arrival to Tashkent at 19.10.
Transfer to the hotel.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 9. Tashkent
There are not so many cities in the world, like the cities of Uzbekistan that have managed to preserve the beauty and spirit of bygone eras, and combined them with the elusive and ephemeral pace of modern life. There are the ruins of old castles, palaces, paved streets, reminding of the greatness of leaders who once lived here neighboring side by side peacefully with skyscrapers, towers, houses, buildings, offices and banks, squares and parks, built over the past decades. This is Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan — the city of bread, silk, cotton, tobacco, fruits.
Lunch at the restaurant.
Visit to the «Chorsu» market, one of the biggest markets of Uzbekistan. Kukeldash Madrasa and Shayhantaur Ensemble with its three mausoleums. Hast-Imam square, which is considered the religious center of Tashkent, where the Barak-Khan Madrasa was built in the 16th century, the Tilla-Sheikh mosque, the mausoleum of the saint Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi, and the Islamic Institute named after Imam al-Buhari. Further tour of the new part of the city with a visit to Independence Square, which is the central square of Uzbekistan.
Day 10. Tashkent – Chimgan
Breakfast.
In the morning, depart to Chimgan Mountains (80 km, ~2 h.). You will be driving the road lying in picturesque surroundings full of local villages, gardens, and streams. If the cable car is functioning, take 3 km long ride in Beldersay gorge to Kumbel peak (2400) where the longest ski track has its start (Please, note that the cable car may not function during the weekdays and expect long lines on Saturdays and Sundays). Have a walk in mountain area. Continue to the shore of Charvak reservoir, surrounded by green mountain flanks. With numerous resorts, beaches, and children summer camps, Charvak Lake is a favorite place of locals and foreigners to enjoy summer days outside the city. Drive down serpentine road to have lunch at a local restaurant. On the way make few photostops at the most picturesque landscapes. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 11. Chimgan – Tashkent
Breakfast.
Check-out from hotel after breakfast. Return to Tashkent. Accommodation at the hotel.
Then take a ride on Tashkent Metro to the city center to walk through Amir Timur Square, Independence Square and visit Applied Arts Museum. Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 12. Tashkent – Moscow
Early breakfast.
Transfer to Tashkent airport, to take flight HY603 to Moscow, at 07.15.
The price of the tour is upon request
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